A mum who charges her family to come for Christmas dinner has sparked controversy by revealing she asks them for £30 each.

Gemma Andrews said she cooks for up to 16 people on the big day.

The mum-of-four appeared on This Morning and said that the cost of food, drinks and other preparations quickly add up.

She explained this led her to ask her family for a contribution - in exchange for a whole day at her house, a three-course meal, drinks and a present for every guest.

However, author Kathy Lette, joining the debate on the programme, said Gemma’s admission fee was “making Scrooge look like Mary Poppins”.

Gemma sparked controversy on This Morning

Host Philip Schofield suggested Gemma was running her Christmas dinner like a business, but Holly Willoughby said she thought £30 was a bargain for twelve hours of festive food and entertainment.

Gemma, 33, said: “I charge the adults £30, I don’t charge the children, and sometimes I serve five or six children that come to our house. The very first year I opened my house to everybody, on Christmas Eve I got let down by five people, putting me out of pocket.

“The year after I tried bring a dish, it comes to Christmas Eve and people were like ‘oh, I forgot to get it’, and then I’m running around trying to find a bag of prawns, it’s more stressful. All the money that I get goes towards the food.

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“No one’s ever had any issue. It started off with their suggestion actually - because I have to control what’s in the cooking, my grandparents-in-law turned round and said ‘well, how about I just give you the money, and then you can order it, you know where it’s coming from, you can control the cooking’.

“They don’t have to come, if they decide they don’t want to come it doesn’t matter. My grandparents-in-law come every year without fail, and if they didn’t come they’d be sat at home on their own. They’re happy to pay. My ex-husband and his family come as well.

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“I’ve got a son with severe allergies, so I have to control the cooking, I have to be on top of it. Two of my guests actually work Christmas Day, they don’t have time to make me anything to bring.

“I’ve hosted for the last 10 years because I have the house that’s big enough to host. I think if it was in alternate years in different houses, I wouldn’t feel the need to cover the cost.”

Gemma Andrews is charging her family to come for Christmas

Gemma also revealed that the price had gone up from £10 to £30, as the children had got older and more alcohol appeared on the table, and the number of people around the table had also gone up.

Taking the opposite point of view was Kathy Lette, who said: “If I charged my family for Christmas, I’d have to put myself up for adoption. You’re making Scrooge look like Mary Poppins. Christmas is about sharing and caring and being generous.

“The kitchen is not my natural habitat; my sisters however love to cook but I then bring the wine and do the washing up. I think at Christmas it’s understood that everyone mucks in in some way.

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“If I dared to ask my family to pay for Christmas, my goose would be well and truly cooked. Nobody would turn up to my Christmas dinner because they’d be so insulted that I could be so mercenary and so mean-spirited. It’s given me a bad case of Santa Claus-trophobia, the idea that we’re bringing money into it.”

One viewer said: “I think it’s rude to ask for money but Christmas dinner is so expensive, I think it’s best to offer to bring the drinks or make the pudding.”

But another defended Gemma on Twitter, saying: “£30 a head for the adults only, including starter, main with all the trimmings, puddings, alcohol and a present for everyone under the tree... you would spend more than that if you went out for Christmas day and it wouldn’t include the drink either!”